Scarlet Tide
by Teeker
Summary: A retelling of the end events in Mass Effect 3 may go beyond. My attempt at filling in some plot holes and weaving together of in game events. Will have FemShep/Liara pairing and have cameos by most of the Mass Effect characters. Contains spoilers of anything Mass Effect including content outside of the games. BioWare owns all rights as always.


Technically Miranda hadn't been lying when she told Shepard she was crashing her party. She just had been intentionally vague about her current location. If her old Commander realized where she was she may have grasped the finality of her thwarted goodbyes. Instead of standing on the streets of London Miranda was now in the Presidiumof a closed Citadel. For the past few days she had been constantly berating herself for believing that this would be a safe place to bring Oriana.

3 days ago

Miranda had left her younger sister in the apartment that was still leased out to one of her aliases. The Citadel still had not been attacked by the reapers and since the Cerberus attempt at a coup C-Sec had more than doubled its forces. This seemed like the safest place to keep Oriana. It was as she was getting ready to depart that she glimpsed the first troops in all too familiar white, black and yellow armor swarm the docking bay. Cerberus had once again started an attack on the Citadel.

The only logical conclusion she could come to was that the Illusive Man had found out about Sanctuary and somehow surmised this would be her destination. The fact that he seemed to know her so well was unnerving. While working for Cerberus she had witnesses the intensity he had to complete a task. It was this drive that she had at once found compelling in her old boss. Miranda had also seen how ruthless the Illusive Man could be especially to those who had betrayed him like Grayson. It was that knowledge that caused panic to rise not for her wellbeing but for the safety of her sister.

Years of her Operative training kicked into action as she franticly thought of a way to get back to the Presidium without alerting the intruders. Just as she was getting ready to make a break from the cover of her shuttle she spotted the shimmer of a Phantom prowling up her docking ramp. Only having seconds to think Miranda forced herself into the corner adjacent to the door. Using the adjoining walls she braced herself between them and scaled toward the ceiling of the small craft.

Beneath her the door slid open and the cloaked menace snuck in. Miranda briefly tensed her muscles before she plunged down upon the intruder shimmering in blue biotics. The agile figure was easily pinned facedown between Miranda's thighs. With a second body now in the cloak's field it was rendered useless and the black and white armored body became fully visible. She didn't hesitate as she pulled the females head back only to force it back forward with a biotic slam. Miranda was rewarded with the sound of crunched bone as several vertebrae broke instantly killing her foe. Unclipping the cloaking device from the dead assassin's belt and attaching it to her own Miranda activated it and sped down to the docking bay.

The elevators, taxis and mass transit hubs would no doubt be the first areas targeted and taken over. Confident in her abilities but not wanting to head towards the thickest fighting, she veered to the stair well leading to the Presidium.

Sprinting up flights of stairs and traversing though corridors by the time Miranda reached the Presidium she was winded. Cerberus troops had found their way up here already as well and were gathering to her left just outside of an elevator. Drawing out her Tempest she crouched behind a short wall as a Centurion flanked by a dozen Troopers and bloody hell what were those.

Two monstrous forms clearly reaper based were among the division. To her shock they weren't attacking Cerberus instead they seemed to be taking orders from the Centurion. He gestured to his left and the asymmetrical figures lumbered toward a group of civilians. Meanwhile the Cerberus troops opened fired. It was obvious that they weren't aiming to kill as most of the shots sailed over heads. The intention was clear as people started scattering in mass chaos. Ones that fell or were to slow to keep up with the majority were cast aside or trampled over.

A salarian with at least a broken leg was attempting to drag his body away from the fray as the abominations closed in on him. Suddenly one of them pounced on the debilitated man and with one arm raised him fully off the ground. Blue light erupted from the beast's hand and engulfed the salarian's head. As quickly as it attacked it flung the body aside and moved on to its next prey.

Miranda was stunned when she saw the salarian stir and sit up from its crumpled position. A confused look spread over his face. The man raised his hand to his lips and pulled it back looking at the green blood that now glistened on his finger tips. His eyes had transformed into blue glowing orbs. Abruptly his head convulsed back his mouth agape let out a petrifying scream. The screaming turned into a gurgling as grey tendrils and frothy blood surged from his mouth.

The light amphibious skin on the man's head bulged then tore down the center. The seam of flesh didn't slow its separation as it continued down the rest of the body. With a final burst what remained of the salarian shed away in a spray of flesh. Left in its place was another atrocity identical to its attacker. It slowly rose and staggered before turning to join the onslaught.

Miranda was completely horrified and couldn't even bring herself to move. She thought she had seen the worst of what the Illusive Man was willing to do on Horizon. The twisted experimentations he had her father working on were paled by these things in comparison. Clearly it hadn't been enough to outfit most of his soldiers with reaper tech. The Illusive Man had to make his own version of the synthetic monsters.

The squad spread out in an arch clearly guarding the elevator and left the civilians to their new pets. The Centurion who was in charge reached up and activated the transmitter in his helmet "Argo squad is clear" he reported. After a short delay "Understood sir," he responded back to the voice on the other end. His hand dropped as he turned to his subordinates. "You herd the boss. He is about to come on board and he expects a clear path to the Tower. I don't need to remind you what will happen to us if the Illusive Man is not pleased."

The Illusive Man was coming onboard the Citadel? It didn't make any sense. In the near decade she had worked for Cerberus he had never left the security of his domain. This attack could not be just about her and Oriana, there had to be something else and part of Miranda couldn't help but wonder what his purpose may be.

Miranda's thoughts were interrupted by "Bravo team what's your twenty?" A brief pause before the Centurion yelled "Bravo status report" into his head piece. Lowering his hand and shaking his head the man turned to his squad. "Bravo team is not responding I need half of you to go down to Purgatory and make sure that floor is clear" he ordered. "Take the Adjutants with you" the commander added as an afterthought.

No sooner had he spoke out the new instructions six Adjutants lumbered back to them. Half of the team loaded the elevator with the beast and descended. This left six armored Troopers and their commander to secure the elevator. Screams could be heard in the distance as the remaining Adjutants continued to attack and transform civilians.

The only way back to the apartment block was through the remaining forces. Her cloak was good but not flawless. She could try to sneak in cover around Cerberus but chances are the shimmering effect of the cloak would give her away just as it had its previous owner. The best way was to attack when they were unprepared.

Taking a deep breath Miranda vaulted over the wall towards the closest Trooper. As she strode toward him she began to gather the surrounding dark energy. She was point blank when she unleashed her Tempest right into the back of the enemy's helmet. His shields were useless at this close of an assault and in less than three seconds the man collapsed.

The brief interruption of the cloak's field momentarily gave away her position. However by the time the team was alerted to her presence she was already invisible again and closing the gap to her next target. The Centurion's neck tore open as Miranda squeezed the trigger to her small machine gun against the man's skin. This time when she flickered into vision the entire squad turned to open fire.

Before the second man fell Miranda let out a lash of the biotics she had been building hitting the remaining forces in a wave. The Troopers were all thrown back with enough force to shatter bones. The two closet soldiers were hit hard enough that they would not be rising up again.

Sprinting to the nearest recovering Trooper she grabbed him from behind using him as a shield as she fired on the remaining two. They managed to get a few shots at her in their disoriented state and one had grazed her thigh. Most of the shots were deflected by her captive's shields but soon were being imbedded into his chest. She could hear the sound of his sputtered breathing as he drowned in the blood filling his lungs.

Dropping the dead man she threw up a biotic barrier and continued to fire. Within moments her Tempest had overwhelmed their shields and her bullets ripped into flesh. The entire attack only took a couple minutes for Miranda to complete. Upon finishing she did a once over making sure all of Argo was dead. Pulling the helmet off of the squad leader she took the transponder from it and she also relieved him of three extra thermal clips and packet of medi-gel.

Abruptly there was a growl close behind her. Miranda whipped around already firing only to be struck by a ball bursting with an electric current. Her body spasmed and she was thrown to the ground her Tempest landing several yards away. Quickly casting a biotic punch she caught the Adjutant and sent it twenty feet back. Miranda turned to go for her gun but the abomination had already recovered and was springing back toward her.

Miranda threw a warp which was somewhat more effective. The beast stopped and shook its head briefly. Reaching her gun she aimed and pulled the trigger back only to have nothing happen. The surge of energy had not only fried her cloak but had also damaged her gun. "Awe hell" she unconsciously groaned. She took off running while building the last of her biotic reserves. The remarkably agile beast followed after her. Miranda dropped to a knee and grasped the Adjutant in a biotic field she used its own momentum as she lifted it and brought it over her in slamming it head first into the ground.

Its skull collapsed in and the body twitched before falling still and turning into ash. Taking a moment to gather her energy Miranda applied a swipe of medi-gel to her earlier shot wound. She was physically and bioicly spent. With no cloak or weapon she was far more vulnerable than she cared to admit. She couldn't dwell on that now and had to push on toward her sister. Getting up she ran along the sides of the corridor taking cover where she could and staying low.

Rounding a corner she was instantly caught in a status field. Taken back momentarily by the surprise of being caught and then who her captor was. The tattooed face was recognizable even though she was donned in a silk dress instead of her infamous leather. "Aria" she gasped as the unmistakable asari emerged from the shadows.

Cocking her head the asari sauntered up to where she was pinned. "Operative Lawson" she responded with a ferial grin. "It must be my lucky day" she drew out in a sickening sweet voice. "Here I was hoping to catch the Illusive Man but I will make do with his perfect little whore." The violent asari's eyes narrowed as she inspected her captive with pure malice.

"It's not what you think" Miranda started only to have her voice chocked out by a strong hand closing in on her trachea.

"You may have tricked Shepard into believing you quit Cerberus but I will not fall for your fucking lies." The fierce asari's blue eyes faded as waves of black consumed them. Miranda felt the livid woman's mind rush into her own. She had never melded before but somehow gathered this wasn't how most melds went. For one there was nothing gentle about the presence of Aria within her. Secondly while she was forced to live memories as they were brought to the front of her awareness only to be tossed aside there was no part of the asari's mind reviled to her.

'Aria please listen to me' she thought desperately 'we have similar goals'.

'What could you know about my desires?' was the vehement reply.

Trying to find her own mind while Aria's storm tore inside her was challenging but she sought out specific knowledge to bring that information forward. Miranda reviled how she had spent over half a year on the run from the Illusive Man and his vengeance. Then she took her to Sanctuary leaving no details out. She showed her the horrendous experiments, the abduction of her sister resulting in execution of her father and her fight with Kai Leng.

'And how does this have anything to do with me' Aria snapped back.

Miranda momentarily felt sympathy for the woman who was moments away from killing her. Aria must have sensed her emotions and instantly Miranda had air return to her burning lungs and gasped in but didn't let up presenting Aria more of her mind. First she brought up the ordeal with the Illusive Man manipulating her to hunt down Paul Grayson. Next she turned to Omega the only thing that she knew the asari loved revealing that she knew about the Cerberus fleet that still circled the base. She finished with the conversation she just had over herd about the Illusive Man's presence on the Citadel not leaving out any of the loathing she had for her former employer.

Aria's essence faded as did the status field around her. Miranda collapsed to the ground trembling as adrenaline and relief coursed through her body. Glancing up she saw the powerful asari eyes were full of fury so intense her eyes seemed to shimmer. Miranda barely had time to see this brief display of emotion before the mask of composure slammed down again over the violet face.

"Don't delude yourself into thinking this means I trust you. I trust only the fact that we both want that fucking asshole dead." Aria said turning away from Miranda as she recovered. "While I am more than confident that I could take the bastard out by myself, the fact that this place is now crawling with his filth does present its obstacles."

"Those things" Miranda rasped as her voice returned to her.

"Are the only reason I am stuck here in this bureaucratic hell hole" Aria cut in. "The Illusive Man unleashed those abominations on Omega with the help of his lap dog Petrovsky. One of many mistakes he is about to pay for." The pirate queens eyes unfocused a bit as she seemed to become lost in thought. "Do you know where that elitist piece of shit was heading?"

"The squad mentioned he wanted to get to the Tower but I do not know where he currently is or what his goals are." Miranda responds relieved that Aria for once allowed her to speak without interruption. She knew that this is more to do with the fact that the asari's mind seems to be deep in thought than a demonstration of respect but she would take it. "Shepard mentioned that last time Cerberus attacked Udina was trying to abduct the council." Lawson added as an afterthought.

Aria's eyes locked with Miranda's. In that moment she still saw the venomous hate but there was something else underlying it. Fear? Worry? These weren't attributes that the criminal lord was known to possess but there was definitely something Aria was trying to hide. Pretending not to notice Miranda glanced down and adjusted her body suit.

"Then that is where we are going" Aria stated reloading her Venom shotgun.

"I need to find my sister" She argued only to be cut off again.

"This isn't up for debate Cerberus I don't trust you and I am sure as hell not going to let you wonder off. You will join me so I can keep an eye on you and you can have a chance at the revenge you claim to seek." Aria asserted.

Miranda knew if she refused Aria would not hesitate to kill her on the spot. Reluctantly she nodded her agreement and prayed that Oriana was safe.

Seeing Miranda give into her will Aria barked "Bray" at the batarion standing near, "see to it that Miss. Lawson here is adequately armed."


End file.
